Crosby wants to keep playing for ‘number of years,’ in talks with Penguins

LAS VEGAS -- Sidney Crosby is talking to the Pittsburgh Penguins about another contract.

The 39-year-old has one season remaining on the two-year, $17.4 million contract ($8.7 million average annual value) he signed with Pittsburgh on Sept. 16, 2024.

It’s unclear what the term of his next contract might be, but Crosby said Tuesday he wants to play as long as he can and is motivated to represent Canada in the World Cup of Hockey 2028.

“Yeah, Pat’s talking to Kyle,” Crosby said at the NHL/NHLPA North American Player Media Tour, referring to agent Pat Brisson and Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas. “It’s just a little bit more difficult, I think, at my age as far as trying to project where you’re going to be. It’s just … It’s different. You don’t know where you’re going to be at kind of year to year with how you feel and things like that.

“So, I mean, I’d like to continue playing for a number of years. I just … I don’t know what that number is. I guess your mind and body tell you that eventually, and right now I feel pretty good, though.”

Is Crosby comfortable going season to season, or does he want another multiyear deal?

“I mean, that’s something Pat’s going to talk to Kyle about,” Crosby said. “But either way, it’s not something that I’m, like, set on either way to be honest with you.”

Crosby said he wouldn’t say he’s in a rush, and he’s unsure if a deal will be reached before training camp or the start of the regular season. Training camps open next week. The Penguins play their season opener at the Philadelphia Flyers on Sept. 30 (7:30 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, HBO MAX).

“I don’t know,” Crosby said. “They’re going to talk. … Yeah, (two years ago), it ended up getting done. … So, yeah. We’ll see. I don’t think there’s a timeline. They’re just going to talk.”

Crosby is still playing at a high level as Pittsburgh’s captain and No. 1 center. He led the Penguins with 74 points (29 goals, 45 assists) in 68 games last season, averaging a point per game for the 21st straight season, an NHL record. They qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in four seasons and lost to the Flyers in six games in the Eastern Conference First Round.

“I think that experience last year was great,” Crosby said. “For the guys that are coming back, it’s something that’s, like … we took that step. We probably were a lot better than people expected, and now there’s a little bit more of an expectation, so we’ve got to find a way to elevate again. So, that’s kind of the challenge.”

The No. 1 pick of the 2005 NHL Draft has spent his entire NHL career with the Penguins, winning the Stanley Cup three times (2009, 2016, 2017). 

Crosby, forward Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang are the longest-tenured trio of teammates in North American major professional sports, and they are entering their 21st -- and perhaps final -- season together. Malkin, 40, signed a one-year, $5.5 million contract on May 26. Letang, 39, is signed through 2027-28 on a six-year, $36.6 million contract ($6.1 million AAV). 

“I think it forms a certain bond, whether it’s with your teammates or with the team itself or the fan base,” Crosby said. “There’s something with that connection that it feels a little bit stronger, especially when you’ve gone through, like, challenging times, whether it’s tough losses or, in some guys’ cases, injuries. I think that’s what makes winning so special, and there’s a lot of things you’ve got to overcome, but I think that part of it is very unique to that.”

Crosby won four best-on-best tournaments -- the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, 2014 Sochi Olympics, World Cup of Hockey 2016 and the 4 Nations Face-Off (2025) -- before settling for silver at the Olympics this past February in Milan.

He wore the “C” and had six points (two goals, four assists) in four games for Team Canada before missing the last two games with a lower-body injury, including a 2-1 overtime loss to Team USA in the gold medal game.

The next World Cup of Hockey will be played in Prague, Calgary and Edmonton in Feburary 2028. Crosby will be 41. Is that a goal?

“Yeah,” Crosby said. “I feel really good, and I want to keep playing, like I said, as long as I can. Yeah, I think that Olympics was an amazing experience overall. It still stings the way that it finished, you know? Like, that’s difficult. But at the same time, it was incredible to have the opportunity to play with all those guys and to see the way we played and just the chemistry that the team had. That was pretty unique. And I think having the 4 Nations leading up to that probably was a part of that too.

“But I think that experience definitely motivates me to want to be part of it again, so in that way, I think it was definitely helpful.”